Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Reviewed
Quick questions
What decides your truck accident claim
We represent people hurt in Los Angeles County by a tractor-trailer, box truck, dump truck, tanker, delivery van, or bus, and families of people killed in one. The claim turns on the evidence, the rules that decide fault, who can be liable, the coverage, and the deadlines. Workers compensation for a truck driver and freight damage are separate matters.
Semi, big rig, 18-wheeler, and tractor-trailer name the same vehicle: a tractor unit pulling a separate trailer. Whatever you call it, the claim runs against companies rather than a person, the conduct is governed by a federal rulebook a car never touches, and the proof sits on retention schedules measured in months. The defense sends an investigator the same day.
Why a truck case is different
Physics comes first. A heavy truck can weigh 20 to 30 times as much as a car, and a loaded tractor-trailer needs 20 to 40 percent more distance to stop.
- 5,340People killed in large truck crashes in 2024, nationallyIIHS Fatality Facts 2024
- 62%Of those deaths were occupants of other passenger vehiclesIIHS Fatality Facts 2024
- 20 to 30xHow much more a heavy truck can weigh than a carIIHS
- 20 to 40%Extra stopping distance a loaded tractor-trailer needsIIHS
The deaths are national 2024 figures, not Los Angeles figures. All of it comes from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Fatality Facts on large trucks and its large trucks topic page, which also report large trucks at 5 percent of registered vehicles and 10 percent of miles traveled.
The second difference is the rulebook. A car driver owes ordinary care under Civil Code section 1714. A commercial driver owes that plus driving limits, inspection duties, testing, and a qualification file, each written down with a section number. A rule you can cite is a rule you can prove was broken.
The third difference is who you are suing. A car crash has a driver and a policy. A truck crash can have a driver, the company that employed or leased him, the broker who booked the load, the shipper, the crew that loaded the trailer, the shop that serviced the brakes, and a parts manufacturer. Large carriers also keep rapid response teams that reach the scene before you leave the hospital.
What the trucking company can legally discard
The most useful thing a lawyer does in week one is send a preservation letter, also called a spoliation letter. It is a written demand to the trucking company, its insurer, and anyone else holding records, naming every category of evidence and forbidding its destruction. Spoliation is the loss of evidence a party knew was relevant, and a court can let a jury hold it against them.
| Evidence | Who holds it | Retention the rules require | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Records of duty status and supporting documents | The trucking company | 6 months from receipt | 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1) |
| The driver's own logs, carried in the cab | The driver | The previous 7 consecutive days | 49 CFR 395.8(k)(2) |
| Dispatch records, bills of lading, expense receipts, payroll | The trucking company | Driver submits within 13 days of the trip | 49 CFR 395.11 |
| Driver qualification file | The trucking company | While employed, plus 3 years | 49 CFR 391.51 |
| Maintenance and repair records | The trucking company | 1 year, plus 6 months after it leaves the fleet | 49 CFR 396.3(c) |
| Driver vehicle inspection reports | The trucking company | 3 months | 49 CFR 396.11 |
| Alcohol results at 0.02 or higher, positive drug tests | The trucking company | 5 years | 49 CFR 382.401 |
| Engine control module, the truck's black box | The tractor itself | No retention rule at all | Lost on repair, salvage, or driving |
| Dashcam video and telematics (GPS and tracking data) | The carrier or its vendor | Whatever the vendor contract says | No regulation sets a floor |
Every period above is the official text of the Code of Federal Regulations at 49 CFR 395.8, 395.11, 391.51, 396.3, 396.11, and 382.401, all published by the Government Publishing Office.
Two terms matter there. Records of duty status are the driver's logs, kept on an electronic logging device, the onboard recorder 49 CFR 395.8(a) requires in most trucks. The engine control module is the truck's own computer, holding road speed, throttle, and hard-braking events from the seconds before impact. Nothing requires anyone to preserve it. A tractor repaired and back in service is a download that no longer exists.
That is the argument for calling early. Our guide on what a truck accident lawyer does sets out the sequence week by week, and hours of service and driver fatigue covers how log data is matched against fuel receipts and toll records.
Who pays after a truck crash
The driver is the obvious defendant and rarely the important one. Respondeat superior is the rule making an employer answer for what its employee does inside the scope of employment, and jurors get it as Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instruction No. 3720. The driver has a license. The company has coverage.
| Party | Why they answer for it | What proves it | Instruction or rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| The driver | Ordinary negligence | The report, the black box, the logs, witnesses | CACI 400 and 401 |
| The trucking company | Respondeat superior for its driver | Payroll, dispatch records, the lease | CACI 3720 |
| The trucking company | Negligent hiring, supervision, or retention | The qualification file, prior violations, safety history | CACI 426 |
| The truck's owner | Negligent entrustment | Who owned it and what they knew about the driver | CACI 724 |
| The broker | Careless selection of the carrier | The carrier's safety record when the load was booked | Civil Code 1714 |
| The shipper or the loader | Careless loading or securement | Bills of lading, seal records, load photographs | Civil Code 1714 |
| The maintenance shop | Careless repair | Work orders and inspection reports | Civil Code 1714 |
| A parts or tire manufacturer | Product defect | The failed component itself, kept and tested | CACI 1200 and 1201 |
| A city, county, or the state | Dangerous condition of public property | Prior complaints, collision history, design records | Government Code 835 |
Instruction numbers come from the 2026 edition of CACI. Government Code section 835 reaches a public entity only where the condition created a foreseeable risk of that kind of injury and the entity created it or had notice in time to fix it.
Expect one defense above all others: the driver was an independent contractor, so the carrier is not responsible. The federal leasing rule answers it. Under 49 CFR 376.12(c)(1), the lease must give the carrier exclusive possession, control, and use of the equipment and complete responsibility for its operation. The company signs that before the trip and disowns it after the crash. Our guide on who is liable in a truck accident works through the rest.
How long a trucker can legally drive
Hours of service are the federal caps on how long a commercial driver may drive before rest. The limits are specific.
| Rule | Limit | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Off duty before driving | 10 consecutive hours | 49 CFR 395.3(a)(1) |
| Driving window after coming on duty | 14 consecutive hours | 49 CFR 395.3(a)(2) |
| Maximum driving inside that window | 11 hours | 49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(i) |
| Break after 8 cumulative hours of driving | 30 consecutive minutes | 49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(ii) |
| Weekly cap | 60 hours in 7 days, or 70 in 8 | 49 CFR 395.3(b) |
| Restart of the weekly cap | 34 or more consecutive hours off | 49 CFR 395.3(c) |
That table is 49 CFR 395.3. A second rule binds the company too: 49 CFR 392.3 says no driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle, and no motor carrier shall require or permit it, while the driver's alertness is so impaired by fatigue or illness as to make it unsafe. A dispatcher who assigns a run the driver cannot legally finish is inside that sentence.
A proven violation changes the shape of the case. Negligence per se means breaking a safety regulation creates a presumption of negligence, and jurors receive it as CACI No. 418. Instead of arguing whether a driver was careful, you show the log, the receipt that contradicts it, and the rule number.
Lower speed and alcohol limits for trucks
California adds two limits on top of the federal ones. Vehicle Code section 22406 caps a motortruck or truck tractor with three or more axles, and any vehicle towing another, at 55 miles per hour, along with loaded school buses and vehicles carrying explosives. On a freeway posted at 65, the maximum under Vehicle Code section 22349, that is a 10 mile per hour gap.
Vehicle Code section 23152(d) makes it unlawful to drive a commercial motor vehicle with 0.04 percent or more alcohol by weight in the blood. That is half the limit for everyone else. A driver at 0.05 percent is legal in a sedan and unlawful in a tractor, and the post-crash test sits in a file the company keeps for five years.
How much insurance is available
Policy limits are the most an insurer will pay, and in most injury cases they are the practical ceiling regardless of how badly you were hurt. This is where truck cases and car cases diverge.
| Vehicle and cargo | Minimum liability coverage | Source |
|---|---|---|
| For-hire interstate truck over 10,001 lbs GVWR, non-hazardous property | $750,000 | 49 CFR 387.9 |
| Oil, hazardous waste, or hazardous materials not in the row below | $1,000,000 | 49 CFR 387.9 |
| Bulk explosives, poison gas, or controlled radioactive material | $5,000,000 | 49 CFR 387.9 |
| A California passenger car, policy issued on or after January 1, 2025 | $30,000 per person, $60,000 per crash, $15,000 property | Vehicle Code 16056 |
The federal floors are the schedule of limits in 49 CFR 387.9. The California minimum is Vehicle Code section 16056, 30/60/15 for policies issued on or after January 1, 2025, rising again in 2035. Side by side, the truck floor is 25 times higher.
Large fleets rarely stop at the floor. Coverage is stacked: a primary policy, then excess layers that pay once the one beneath is exhausted, then an umbrella over several kinds of liability at once. Each defendant we identify is another policy in that tower, which is why proving liability and valuing the case are one project. Our settlement calculator shows what the ceiling does to a number.
What each crash type says about fault
- Underride. A car goes beneath the trailer, which points at conspicuity tape (the reflective tape on the trailer), rear impact guard condition, and whether the trailer was stopped in a travel lane.
- Jackknife. The trailer swings until the rig folds at the coupling, which points at speed for conditions, brake balance, and load distribution.
- Rollover. Usually on a ramp or a curve, which points at speed, center of gravity, and whether the load shifted, and that sends you to the loading records.
- Wide right turn squeeze. The tractor swings left before turning right and traps whatever is beside it, which points at mirror use and route choice.
- No-zone sideswipe. The no-zone is the blind area beside and behind a tractor-trailer, and this pattern points at lane change technique and any side camera.
- Lost load. Cargo leaves the trailer, which points at securement, the loader, and the shipper more often than the driver.
- Tire failure. A tread separation or blowout points at the tire itself, which has to be preserved, and the inspection reports.
- Rear-end into stopped traffic. The common freeway pattern here, which points at following distance, fatigue, and the black box.
Who pays in port and delivery crashes
Los Angeles carries more heavy trucks than almost anywhere for one reason: it is where the containers land. The Port of Los Angeles reports 10.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot container units) moved in calendar year 2025, 26 consecutive years as the number one container port in the Western Hemisphere, and 7,500 acres holding 25 cargo terminals, seven of them container terminals. Those figures are on the Port's facts and figures page.
Every container leaves on a chassis behind a truck. Drayage is the short-haul trucking that moves a container between the terminal and a rail yard or warehouse, and it feeds the 710 north out of San Pedro Bay, then the 5, the 91, and the 605. A drayage case brings its own defendants: the terminal operator, the chassis provider, the trucking company, and the cargo owner. That is port and drayage truck accidents.
The other half is the last mile. Box trucks and sprinter vans work residential streets built for cars, on routes timed by software, and the company on the side of the van is often not the company employing the driver. That structure is the central dispute, covered on delivery truck and last mile accidents. For a rideshare car, start with our Uber accident page.
What a truck case is worth
Value is built, not looked up. It comes from documented medical bills and future care, wage loss and lost earning capacity, the non-economic harm a jury prices, the number of defendants, and the coverage behind them. The evidence work moves one of those five.
Truck collision, concussion
Sideswiped on the freeway by a semi-truck. Settled on the eve of trial.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its own facts, injuries, and insurance coverage. Amounts shown are gross recoveries before attorney's fees, costs, and medical liens.
That is our own case, and the largest recovery this firm has obtained. A semi-truck sideswiped our client on the freeway and caused a concussion. The first offer was $100,000. It settled for $6,300,000 on the eve of trial. One case, with its own facts and coverage.
We publish no average truck accident settlement. Published averages have no disclosed dataset behind them. What helps is arithmetic you can check: our settlement calculator shows what it adds, what it cannot know, and where coverage caps it. Our case results page lists what we have recovered.
How long you have to file
| Deadline | What has to happen | Source |
|---|---|---|
| First weeks | Preservation letter to the carrier, insurer, and vendors | No statute, but retention runs from the crash |
| 6 months | Written claim presented to the public entity | Government Code 911.2 |
| 6 months | When a carrier may lawfully discard the logs | 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1) |
| 45 days | The entity's board acts, or the claim is deemed rejected | Government Code 912.4 |
| 6 months after rejection | Suit against the entity, or 2 years if no notice was sent | Government Code 945.6 |
| 2 years | Suit for the injury or death against a private defendant | Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 |
Sources: Government Code section 911.2, section 912.4, section 945.6, and Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. The statute of limitations is the outer deadline to file suit; once it passes the claim is gone.
What happens after you call us
- 1The preservation letter goes out first
To the trucking company, its insurer, the broker, and any telematics vendor, naming the logs, the black box, the video, and the maintenance file.
- 2We get you treated
Imaging, the right doctors, and follow-up care, often with nothing out of pocket. Treatment first is what makes the record complete.
- 3The scene and the vehicles
Photographs before the roadway is cleaned, and a request to download the tractor before it is repaired or scrapped.
- 4Every defendant, every policy
The lease, the dispatch records, the bill of lading, and the safety history tell us who else belongs in the case. Each name is another policy.
- 5We handle the recorded statement
The carrier's investigator will call. You need not speak with them, and we take that contact. The first offer is a negotiating position.
- 6We track the deadline
Two years, or six months if a public entity is in the file, plus retention windows that expire sooner.
Our attorneys handle these cases from the first call through trial, and the responsible attorney is Josh Kohanim. There is no fee unless we recover. General questions are answered on our frequently asked questions page, and the rest is on practice areas.
When a truck claim works differently
You were the truck driver. Your first claim is workers compensation, a different system with different deadlines and no pain and suffering. A separate claim against a third party may exist alongside it.
Only the freight was damaged. Cargo loss is governed by the bill of lading and federal transportation law, not personal injury law.
The federal minimums do not reach every truck. The $750,000 floor applies to for-hire interstate carriage above 10,001 pounds. A landscaping truck or a pickup with a trailer may carry the California minimum of 30/60/15 and nothing more. Then your own underinsured motorist coverage becomes the case, which our Los Angeles car accident lawyer page covers.
You were on two wheels or on foot. The trucking rules still apply, but the fault dispute differs enough that we handle those on our motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian pages.
What to do after a truck crash
You have two years to sue a private defendant, and six months to present a claim if a public agency truck is involved. The records that decide who pays run on their own schedule, and the shortest is six months. More than one company is usually responsible, and the coverage starts at $750,000 rather than $30,000. None of it helps if the tractor is repaired and the video overwritten first.
Get examined today, write down the carrier's name and the DOT number, the federal registration number painted on the door, keep your photographs, and let our attorneys send the preservation letter this week. If a family member was killed, our wrongful death page explains who may bring the claim. We also handle truck cases in Santa Ana, Orange County, and Calabasas.